I have come to save the world and not to judge it!

John 12:44-50

Jesus shouted to the crowds, “If you trust me, you are really trusting God. For when you see me, you are seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a Light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer wander in the darkness. If anyone hears me and doesn’t obey me, I am not his judge—for I have come to save the world and not to judge it. But all who reject me and my message will be judged at the Day of Judgment by the truths I have spoken. For these are not my own ideas, but I have told you what the Father said to tell you. And I know his instructions lead to eternal life; so whatever he tells me to say, I say!”

Food for thought!

These, according to the Gospel of John, are Jesus' last words of public teaching. After these words, Jesus will speak only to his disciples and after these, he will stand before Pilate. And after Pilatos,  he will die on the cross. So these words are extrem ely important because they are the last words of Jesus to people at large.

In these words, Jesus makes categorically that in him people are confronted with God the Father. To listen to Jesus is to listen to God; to see Jesus is to see God the Father. In Jesus God meets man, and man meets God. Jesus is the meeting place between God and man; in Jesus God meets us, and in Jesus we meet God; in Jesus God speaks to us, and in Jesus we speak to God; in Jesus we see God and in Jesus God sees us, loves us, forgives us.

Jesus tells us, for the last time, that his business among us is not to condemn but to save: I didn't come to judge the world; I came to save the world. Jesus did not come to complicate our life, but to simplify it: «Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.» (Mt 11:28). It was not the wrath of God which sent Jesus to the world; it was his love.

This said, the coming of Jesus inevitably involves judgment. Why should th at be? Because by our attitude to Jesus we show what we are and therefore we judge ourselves. If we find in Jesus solace, we are safe. If on the other hand, we see in Jesus nothing lovely and our heart remains completely untouched in his presence, it means that we are locked away from God; and we have therefore judged ourselves. In other words, Jesus is God's standard. By our attitude to him we ourselves stand revealed.

Jesus ended with a warning that the words which his listeners had heard would be their judge. That is one of the great truths of life. No one can be blamed for not knowing. But if we know the right thing and do the wrong, our condemnation is all the more serious. Therefore every wise thing that we have heard, and every opportunity we have had to know from Jesus, will in the end be a witness against us. All that we have known and did not do will be a witness against us at the last, as it is stated in Luke 12:48

«For everyone to whom much is given, of him  shall much be required.»